Information on Loughborough

Leicestershire House Prices

Posted on 02/05/2008

purchase agreement for a house

Leicestershire house owners will have known for some time reading the house price news on in Loughborough that house prices in our region have been having a hard time keeping pace with inflation. Then last month the Halifax reported a 2.5 per cent monthly fall in house prices nationally.

house and a calculatorThe Average House Price for Leicestershire is £170,429 according to the House Price Index. Back in 2000 it was only £75,000 meaning it has increased by almost 130%. Inflation however measured by the Retail Price Index has increased by just 25% over the same period. Although house prices started loosing the battle against inflation in 2005 they are now showing an actual decrease there is a concern of economists is that the house prices are currently still artificially high. Mortgage lenders are already predicting that new lending could halve this year compared to last. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the price of houses in the UK are 27 per cent above what they should be and there is already concern that if the realignment happens too rapidly then it could easily overshoot.Those who remember the price realignment and stagnation in the housing prices in the early 90s will be all to aware of the implications of repossession and negative equity.

However it is not all bad news for property. The evidence at Belvoir, the countrys leading lettings specialist is that in and around Loughborough lettings are thriving. Surprised? You shouldnt be as Jim Mitchell from Belvoir in Loughborough explains: “People still need to move for any number of reasons: moving out of parents house, job move, temporary appointment, relationship split, gap between a sale and a purchase, having a house built etc. 2008 will be a bumper year for lettings and some investment landlords are seeing opportunities arising already.”

It seems that every downturn in one part of a market represents an opportunity in another part of it.

Belvoir Lettings Loughborough